Unfortunately he keeps saying inane shit like wondering out aloud what happens when you piss on clouds. I skipped through the whole thing, tuning in here and there to see if it got more interesting, but...
On the upside he loves the art and music, like really, and states it several times.

Facecam and incongruous babbling usually equal horrible lets player, which is definitely the case here... But I think this is Germany's #1 guy so we should all be happy you get some major exposure. Just, uh, be prepared for retarded mails coming your way...

Absolutely magnificent, those visuals. Animation is simply superb, if i may say so.
The cloud idea really opens up so many visual and gameplay ideas.
Can't wait to see more!

Thanks!
I clarified with Konidias what the guy was supposed to behave like in the game. His AI, reactions and such. Then all that was needed was a visual shorthand to hammer that behavior right in. So you see at first glance he's not an aggressive stalker/agile ninja/evil threat.

Soooo - just do his walk as if he had already difficulty not falling over with his massive melon head.

(Also he has his butt half hanging out, if anyone cares to analyze this at a single-pixel level.)

This is really good. What did you use to paint this?

Thanks! It's actually just a rough sketch with some standard brushwork on top of it, and a Paint Daub filter added.
I'm currently trying to get into skeletal 2D, which I find a bit tough using exclusively parts and no single drawn frames. I was thinking of a character to use and given I'm currently in the swing of this I went "Well, why not him"? All the proportions and expression are tongue-in-cheek, of course.

Here's a slightly more properly proportioned version, by the way.

Edit: Me posting here is the reason we're still at 20% and not finished yet, with 50 hours of sequel material done.

This game is balls hard, holy crap.
Is there any legitimate proof you can beat the last level of the topmost world while saving everyone? I say there isn't. Yeah, I'm salty :<

Bile-spewing aside, the game is a joy to play and behold, thanks for this great work you did!

It's not like I have any self-respect anyway.

Sir Definitely-Not-Featured-In-This-Game, which was just a spare time thing today.
(Then again 32x32 pixel sprites can easily be upscaled to get this though, I've seen it lots of times on CSI.)

I really want to work in hiding in shadows but I'm honestly not sure how well that would work in a game like this. If I go that route it would end up being a lot of dynamic lighting and it would probably pull away from my original vision of the game.

Couldn't you just have preset zones 'lighted' that flicker on and off, move, etc.?

I say you implement random color shifts, critchety-cratchety noises, darkening everything and image wobble like you just drank a vat of Jäger. Starting the exact second you step one inch away from a lightbulb.

Just kidding actually, I thought that was ridiculous in Amnesia.

Never mind me, I'm just here for Calum's music.

Your artist really knows what they're doing, I adore those sketches! This looks like a great opportunity to learn stuff. (Can't jump on this due to time constraints, just wanted to spam...)

Aw, thanks! That's much, much, much appreciated! (Seriously, sometimes you have really rotten spells of no inspiration/horrible motivation, and it's comments like these that can pick a guy right up!)
Let me update this post with some stuff later today!

Also, here's an older mockup type thing that got paged pretty hard in the other thread I figure, so click for size.

And finally, have some shitty fanart!

Any samples?
Or previous related work?
Or willingness to do an impromptu branching dialogue scene based on requirements given by the next guy in this thread?

That is some really good art!
I feel a sprite artist could learn a lot by doing this.

Hope you find a really, really good one!

To be fair, your game went from a pretty mediocre-looking affair to becoming a little technical marvel in that time, those height map effects are looking absolutely crazy.

Good luck with it, if you ask me a nice and readily available demo will get you players fast.

Actually just as a bit of feedback, you have very good taste in requesting Street Fighter 3 as a template for style questions, which is arguably the pinnacle of 2D pixel art. However, have a look at this guy:

Ryu from SF3 is about 110 px tall in his normal stance - with a quality most artists could never even dream to achieve (even if a few frames in this gif seem to be in the wrong order). Really top notch and probably outside the table from your article.

Your average sprite size is 220 x 220 px, which is so incredibly far off the scale in terms of creating art like this it's very debatable if the approach is even sound, even setting aside all questions of payment. KoF did it by rotoscoping 3D models (not that SF3 didn't use tracing as well, just that it was hand-drawn cels) and using a shack filled with Korean slave laborers, and the result really looks less than convincing:

Wooden choppy Terry Bogart here is about 280 px in height, which is closer to your intended size.
Perhaps this makes it clearer that the basic approach in itself should perhaps be reconsidered in terms of scale.

Generally you will find people willing to work under any conditions for any sort of pay - there are firms in Asia specialized on exactly that sort of thing. Only you need to know where to look, and I'd wager it's a bit difficult to expect a careful artist's touch, or proper professional post-submission care.

Edit: Ah, and it might be a good idea to release one of your sketches as an example for the style and level of detail you want - "colorful and detailed" is one thing, but the phrase isn't really very specific in terms of content. If you're too hesitant to do that, then maybe some comparable piece of art.

I don't think you'll need human language at all if you don't want to, and most people there should speak English well.
In short, just go there and it'll all work out.

I'll be there, looking forward to it!

Well in your case your second point isn't a nice-to-have, it's a must!

Our semi-final gui is now a bit darker for a more consistent look in later levels.

Aw, is the blue hue final? Because the contrast is pretty extreme now, before the visual consistency was much higher. Why is the BG image drawn with this massive rim light anyway? Will everything in the game have the same look in the end?
Because it looks to be the only instance where you have pure white light and high contrast, which is a bit unfortunate given it's just supposed to be a subtle canvas.

I'll stop nagging about this now, it's half derailing the thread already.

I love the look of the character portraits as they are right now. And actually the monsters too. No idea if you were planning on refining them, but the sketched look is fabulous, especially because it creates massive room for interpretation (like the female's face). Well done, and a great throwback to the classics.

"Hockey RPG" sounds like an awesome idea - but it should be done well to be interesting.
So care to share how you're going to approach this concept? Will it be Blades of Steel with RPG elements? Or Inazuma Eleven with a hockey flavor? Or No Fun Allowed Euro-style team management sim with some dialogue thrown in?

Any shots of the game so far, or even a playable version?